I watched as the rain fell from the sky. Fog laid thick on the ground assuring a day of wet, unruly weather. I had planned for a solid week to finish removing the Christmas decorations from the outside

Hmmmmm....a plastic tree? Quite a difficult question. Most modern artificial Christmas trees are made from polyvinyl chloride (PVC) or other plastics. The manufacture of PVC requires petroleum and despite being plastic most artificial trees are not recyclable or biodegradable. The best we can do at this point is to "Reduce, Reuse, Recycle" our trees. An emphasis, of course, on the first two.

Reduce - Now that this tree is gone really think about the idea of getting another artificial. If you choose to do so, get one that is environmentally friendly or made of post-consumer materials

Reuse - Perhaps you can use the "tree branches" to make a wreath or two or decorate your mantle next year. There are probably a dozen or so DIY projects that you could use the fake fir for.

Recycle - If the trunk or the actual "bark" part of tree is aluminum you can isolate that and recycle it at any recycling station.

Our country has quite a ways to go to even come close to how "green" some of our European neighbors are. I am currently on assignment in Norway, where cars are typically the transport mode of last resort. Buses, subways and both regular & high speed trains are used by most of the people for both commuting & shopping.

Alternate energy sources such as wind & solar are very common, even though Norway is the largest oil producer in Europe. Both individuals & business are very conscientious of reducing their carbon footprint as much as possible.

I agree. Absolutely. We live in a land of conspicuous consumption where bigger equals better. The more you have, the more you are worth. There is a sick feeling of accomplishment that we, as Americans, get when we are able to have such fanciful items. It is not the same as in European cultures where they take pride in their ingenuity, clever use of space, and minimalism. All of this plays into a smaller carbon footprint.

I have lived in Paris where I didn't drive for almost seven months. If I needed to get somewhere quick I would mount a "rent-a-bike" and zoom through traffic and back streets. I would love to see more of America embrace mass transit of all sorts. I cannot even begin to say when that might be.

I agree with you. There is much work to do! Kudos to you for educating yourself. That is going to be our first and biggest step.

why worry about what people have in america? if we work hard to pay for it whos to say i can or cant have it? global warming is a bunch of crap, the earth is no warmer now than it was 50 or even 100 years research actually shows it cooler. so burn all the fossil fuel you want. the earth will end when the good lord says so not because of global warming.

Just seems to me...that the new power plant would be trying to get all the wood that was left over from the storm instead of people just burning it. If not this power plant...maybe another close by????